Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia. Just like other capital cities, Jakarta presents modernity and landscape of skyscraper buildings. On the other side, Jakarta has some must-see tourist attractions. Besides interesting and entertaining, some of them have its own history. For all tourists, either local or foreigner, who will come to see Jakarta should pay attention to the following points:

Departure Schedule

Indonesia is a tropical country having only two seasons: dry and wet. This also applies to Jakarta city. According to BMKG, wet season in Jakarta for period 2016/2017 is started on December 2016 and predicted entering the dry season on April – September 2017. However, the rainy day possibly happens in the dry season. If you don’t want your holiday distracted, we recommend you not to come in wet season because in some places will be flooded.

Furthermore, national and school holiday in Indonesia can cause Jakarta fulfilled by the tourists. The significant amounts of them cause the traffic jams, long queues everywhere, and the tourist attraction being crowded. In Indonesia, every semester (6 months), particularly after exams, the students get a holiday for approximately two weeks. Typically, the holiday of the first semester happens at the beginning of July, and the second semester happens at the end of December. For the detail, please notice the following national and education calendar.

Currency and Budget

Indonesia uses Rupiah as its currency. The currency consists of coins in the denominations of 100, 200, 500, and 1000 rupiah, and banknotes in the denomination of 1000, 2000, 5000, 10.000, 20.000, 50.000, and 100.000 Rupiah. You can exchange money into rupiah in your home country, but some places in Indonesia also provide money exchanger in the denominations you want. You can also use XE Currency Converter to know the exchange rate of your money. If you are too lazy to bring cash money, you can use the electronic money, debit card, or credit card. However, not all places accept those payment systems.

For the budget you need, Indonesia is one of the countries with inexpensive living cost. The cheapest hotel fee in Jakarta is around Rp 200.000/night. When you choose to eat at the restaurant, you should pay around Rp 20.000 – Rp 70.000 for each food. The entrance ticket of some tourist attractions such as Monas, Kota, and much more is also usually free. Even if you have to pay, it is still reasonable, only Rp 5000 – Rp 50.000 except the amusement park like Dufan, Sea World, etc.

Indonesian Language

Indonesian don’t speak English as their first language. Indonesian speak their own language, it is Bahasa Indonesia. At a glance, Bahasa Indonesia is similar to Melayu language commonly used by some countries in South East Asia but slightly different. For those who don’t understand Bahasa Indonesia at all, you’ll find it hard to communicate with the locals. It is because most people in Jakarta are not too proficient in English. Even, the information boards at public place don’t put the English translation too.

Therefore, you should slightly understand Bahasa Indonesia, mainly the short conversations when buying something, using public transport, or asking the direction. Website expat.or.id can probably help you to learn Bahasa Indonesia easily. Don’t forget to bring your dictionary or install Google Translate on your smartphone.

Immigration (Pasport and Visa)

According to Presidential Regulation Number 21 of 2016, Indonesia has given free Visa Exemption for passport holder from 169 countries. The reasons are to ease the foreigner visiting Indonesia and to increase the economy through the tourist arrivals. Those people with Visa Exemption will be granted Visit Stay Permit for 30 days, but it can’t be extended or converted into another stay permit. If you want to visit Indonesia and spend your holiday in Jakarta, you can use this free visa. For the detail information whether your country is one of them, visit Indonesia’s immigration website.

Communication

Some countries mostly use locked phone bundling with local telecommunication provider. Once you bring your locked phone to another country, such as Indonesia, it won’t work! When you come to Jakarta, the best way to call or access the internet is buying an unlocked phone and Indonesian SIM card. As long as your unlocked phone operates in frequency 900/1800 MHz of GSM, you can use it in Indonesia. Just for your information, in Indonesia, handphone is called hp (pronounced “ha-pei”) and credit is called pulsa (pronounced “pool-sa”).

On the roadside of Jakarta, there are so many outlets selling SIM card and credit. You can choose different providers like Telkomsel, Indosat, XL, and Three. All providers can be used all around Indonesia. But, the phone call and internet package charges of each provider are different.